Week 48 1 Thessalonians
The church was in the city of Thessalonica. I remember the back-story of how Paul & Silas landed in a Philippian jail. When they got out they headed for Thessalonica.
I check my bible atlas. Thessalonica was probably a port town, tucked right up at the end of a big gulf on the north-western shoulder of the Aegean Sea. Looking east I see Apollonia, then Amphipolis, and then Philippi (maybe about two hundred crow-flying kilometres east of Thessalonica). The Thessalonica story in Acts says that Paul spoke to people in one of the synagogues. Some Jewish people believed in the Lord, and so did: a large group of godly Greek men and also many important women of the city. A mixed congregation.
The Acts story adds a sequel about an angry mob accusing Paul & Silas of insurrection. But in his letter Paul doesn’t make a big deal about getting run out of town. He focuses on what happened to the people who believed: you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God. And…you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven.
It’s a condensed version, a synopsis of a believing person’s life. I realize my favourite idols aren’t any good to me; I turn away from them so that I’m facing the true and living God; and now I’m looking in the right direction for the Lord when he comes back from heaven.
Note: quotes from Acts 17:4, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (NLT)